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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Angeline D. Brauer

Message of Hope

It is good to be with you all this morning.

I've been very blessed by the music this morning.

Thank you for the special as well as those songs we had for song service.

That last 1, our opening hymn, I haven't heard before.

To live in that land where there is no night?

Well, the world that we're living in right now is actually quite frightening, isn't it?

But I like how Sean Boonstra said it in the Adventist Review.

He reminds us that we have an explanation and we have hope.

So this morning what we're going to do is look at Christ's first coming, His first Advent, to prepare us for His second Advent.

We're going to go through a number of verses, But before we start, let's have a word of prayer.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, You are amazing.

And we thank You for Your many mercies towards us.

We thank You, Lord, that You have sent the Redeemer into the world and that He will save us and we thank you Father for the hope we have in Jesus.

We pray that you will be with us this morning as we study your word, enlighten our minds.

And you want to keep a marker here because we're going to be going back and forth to Luke 2.

Luke gives us the most details about the first few days of Christ's life, and that's what we're going to look at this morning.

Luke chapter 2, And starting with verse 21, it says, And when 8 days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opened the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or 2 young pigeons." So what we have here is that according to the ceremonial laws of the time, Christ was brought to the priests first when he was 8 days old to be circumcised.

Now circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship between God and his people.

So Christ was circumcised to be an example to us of the covenant relationship that we are to enter with God.

And then when the child was 40 days old, if it was a male, or 80 days old, if it was a female, the parents would bring the child again to the priest for a dedication service.

It was when the son was circumcised that his name was also written in the books officially.

And it's interesting here in this passage that Luke reminds us of the time when the angel told Mary and Joseph what to name their child.

And since he brings up that point, let's look at that.

First in Matthew, go back to Matthew chapter 1, and this is Where the angel tells Joseph about the child that is to be born, Matthew 1 and verse 20.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." So notice that last part, he shall save his people from their sins, take them out of their sins.

Now in going back to Luke chapter 1 and verse 30, starting with verse 30, this is where the angel tells Mary what to call Jesus.

And the angel said unto her, fear not Mary for thou has found favor with God and behold thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.

And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

So I'm going to write on the board here these descriptions of Jesus as told by the angel.

He will be called Great, and forgive my handwriting here, Great Son of the highest.

He will be given a throne and he will establish his kingdom, which will not end.

And then what the angel told Joseph, he will save us from our sins.

So here, the purpose of Christ is identified by the angel before he is even born.

But how many of those things actually happened during his first advent?

How many of those things were accomplished?

And there was a time when he entered Jerusalem and they cried Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

But a few days later they cried, crucify him.

So the next ceremony was when Christ was 40 days of age.

He was brought again with sacrifices to be dedicated to the work of the Lord.

And this ceremony is explained in Leviticus chapter 12.

So let's turn there and read a little bit about it.

Leviticus chapter 12, third book of the Bible.

Leviticus chapter 12, verses 6 through 8.

And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the priests, who shall offer it before the Lord and make an atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood.

This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring 2 turtles or 2 young pigeons, the 1 for the burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.

And the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean." So why talk about sacrifices at what should be such a joyful event, the dedication of a child?

Keep Leviticus 12 in mind, but go back to Luke and let's see what Luke says.

So keep in mind that a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtle dove was brought to the priest to offer a sacrifice, 1 for a sin offering, 1 for a burnt offering.

You can actually study in Leviticus chapter 1 that the burnt offering was given of one's voluntary will and it was a sweet savor unto the Lord.

And then in Leviticus chapter 4 describes the sin offering, which was offered after a sin was unknowingly committed, later acknowledged, and it was given to make an atonement and for the forgiveness of the confessed sin.

Why all these offerings are needed at the dedication of a child.

As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opened up the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice unto that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or 2 young pigeons." So Mary and Joseph were too poor to bring a lamb, so they brought 2 turtle doves or 2 young pigeons.

And here in Luke, what he is pointing out is he is reminding us about the Israelites' delivery from Egypt, which is when this was established.

So let's go back to Exodus and read this.

And this is actually describing the Passover service.

But there are some points here that are important that Luke is trying to bring out.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever open at the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine." Now let's go to verses 14 and 15 of Exodus, chapter 13.

And every first, sorry, Verse 14, And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this?

That thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast.

Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males, but all the firstborn of my children I redeem." Notice God's instruction and the purpose of this ceremony.

The firstborn of a woman and of all the animals were sanctified, set apart, and made holy for God's use.

As a memorial of God's deliverance, of God delivering the people out of Egypt.

It was to draw their minds to the Redeemer, to remind them that it was only through the power and might, the strength of God himself, that they were saved.

That blood that was sprinkled on the doorposts in their homes in Egypt while in bondage saved their firstborn children.

Likewise, the blood of the Messiah to come would have power to save the world out of the bondage of sin.

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